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Immigration – asylum — Bulgaria

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//May 31, 2013//

Immigration – asylum — Bulgaria

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//May 31, 2013//

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United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Civil

Immigration – asylum — Bulgaria

Where the Bulgarian government is protecting an asylum applicant’s family, his application for asylum was properly denied.

“Although Mr. Bitsin has produced evidence that he may be at risk if he returns to Bulgaria, the evidence does not require a reasonable factfinder to conclude either that Mr. Bitsin established a clear probability that he will suffer harm at the hands of the Galev Brothers or that the Bulgarian government is unable or unwilling to protect him. According to Mr. Bitsin, Asen has had difficulties with the Galev Brothers since 2000; nevertheless, although Mr. Bitsin was in Bulgaria intermittently until 2005, he never personally was threatened or harmed. More importantly, however, the Bulgarian authorities have not been complicit in the actions of the Galev Brothers, but have instituted and pursued criminal proceedings against them. We previously have observed that a government’s steps “to punish the persons responsible for the violence” supports a conclusion that it is not unwilling or unable to protect individuals who have been the victims of ethnic attacks. Vahora v. Holder, 707 F.3d 904, 908 (7th Cir. 2013). Additionally, the Bulgarian government has been providing Asen with protection, and has kept him safe, for almost two years following the conclusion of the Galev Brothers’ trial. Thus, this case does not present a situation where an individual has sought help, but simply was ‘advi[sed] to maintain a low profile’—circumstances which, we have concluded, are ‘strong evidence that the government . . . is indeed incapable of protecting’ the applicant. Hor v. Gonzales, 421 F.3d 497, 502 (7th Cir. 2005).”

Dismissed in part, and Denied in part.

12-2717 Bitsin v. Holder

Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals, Ripple, J.

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